Apparatus for turning off water in buildings



(No Model.) I

J. D. WESTGATE;

APPARATUS FOR TURNING OPP WATER IN BUILDINGS. No. 268,062.

Patented Nov. 28, 1882.

N. PETERS: Phm-Liiho m her. wuhin ton, u. c.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH D. WESTGATE, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEO. H. ALLEN, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FORTURNING OFF WATER IN BUILDINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 268,062, dated November 28, 1882.

v Application filed June 12, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH D. WEsrcArE, of Manchester, county of Hillsborough, State of New Hampshire, have invented an 1m prove- 5 ment in Apparatus for Turning Off Water in Buildings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for operro ating from any desired part of a, building a stop-cock located at or near the point where a service-pipe enters a building, to thus prevent water from freezing in the pipes in the building. The system of pipes entering a building is usually provided with astop-cock located in the. basement or cellar of the service-pipe enters, and it is necessary to go to such stop-cock when it is desired to cut the water off from or let it into the building. In houses that are divided into tenements in the different stories the water is cut off from all tenements by operating the stop-cock, and it will be necessary for a person desirous of using the water after it has been turned 011 to go to the basement and turn iton again-a matter of such great inconvenience that the water is seldom turned 01f at all in houses where there are a number of families to useit, and it consequently frequently freezes, causing great damage and inconvenience.

This invention consists in apparatus for actuating the main stop-cock of a system of waterpipes, and adapted to be operated from as many different points as desired, so that in a tenement-house each tenement or series of apartments may be provided with astop-cock-operating device or lever, by which the stop-cock can be readily opened or closed independently by any occupant of the building and on either floor or story. The stem or plug of the stopcock, or its shaft, is provided with a pulley or equivalent arms, and a flexible cord, chain, or wire passed about and connected with the said pulley is led by a series of guide-pulleys to the different points from which it is-desired to operate the stop-cock, where other similar pulleys or equivalents are provided, having handles or cranks by which they may be operated to move the cords or chains, rotate the the building, where or belt, 0, passing over the said pulley 1r,

stop-cock, and control the flow of water into the pipes or permit its escape. The said series of operating sheaves or pulleys are thus all moved simultaneously when any one is actuated, and any one of them may be employed to actuate the stop-cock.

The drawing shows in diagram two stories of a building supplied by a single service-pipe, a stop-cock in the service-pipe, and actuating mechanism connected with the said stop-cock, by which it can beoperated from either of the said stories.

The service or water-supply pipe at, leading by suitable branches to the faucets b b, from which the water is to be delivered, is provided at c with a stop-cock, which may be of any usual construction, it having, instead of the usual handle or lever, a pulley or pinion, d, by the rotation of which the said stop-cock is opened and closed. Near pinion d is a gear or connected pulley, x. A flexible cord, chain,

and preferably positively connected with the periphery thereof, is carried over suitable guidepnlleys,f, to a pulley, 9, provided with an operating device or handle, it, located near one .75 of the faucets, I), of a portion of the supplypipe belonging to one of the occupants of the building. The cord 0 might be attached directly to the periphery of a pulleyon the shaft of the stop-cock; but I prefer to employ the So intermediate larger pulley, .r, and pinion n to gain power. From the pulley g the cord 6, or another cord, 6, is carried over suitable guidepulleys, if necessary, to another actuating-pulley, 9, provided with an operating device or handle, h, located at a point readily accessible to another occupant of the building drawing his water-supply from the faucet Z). The said stopcock-operating devices may be carried in this same manner to other points in the building, as may be desired. By this arrangement any oneof the occupants of the building can, without inconvenience, turn off the water from the whole building, and any other occupant can subsequently turn it on and off 5 again, if desired, and since it is a matter. of convenience to all the occupants to have the pipes remain unfrozen they will each,on retiring for the night, see whether the water has been turned 011' or not, the position of the handles h h indicating this, and if it has not been turned off the occupant first observing it will do so, knowing that it will cause no inconvenience to another occupant who may desire to use the water later.

By using a pulley in connection with the cords the leverage with which they act remains constant, and there are no dead-points, as would be the case if bell-cranks were used, and it were attempted to connect the cord to the usual stop-cock handle. The wires and pulleys will be placed behind the plastering of the building after the manner of usual bellwires. It is obvious that an arrangement of this kind is of great convenience in a building not divided into tenements, as herein described. The stop-cock will be a three-way cock of usual construction, and one way of the cock will open communication with a wastepipe.

I claim-- 1. The combination, with the water-supply pipe in a building, of a stop-cock located near the point Where the said pipe enters the building, and means to actuate the said stop-cock from various different points in the building,

. substantially as described.

2. The stop-cock provided with an actuating-pulley, combined with a flexible cord or belt connected with an actuating-pulley having a handle, and located at a distance therefrom, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name 5- to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH D. WVESTGATE.

Witnesses:

G. W. GREGORY, FRED A. POWELL. 

